This invention relates to a surgical skin/fascia stapling instrument which contains a plurality of staples and which allows a single staple to be formed and removed from the instrument.
To develop the background of the invention and to establish the state of the art, the following references are cited: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,179,057; 4,109,844; and 3,873,016, which are incorporated by reference. These references disclose stapling instruments which contain a plurality of staples and from which a single staple can be formed and removed.
The stapling instrument of this invention has advantages over these prior art references. One advantage is the relative size of the instrument which is maintained while the number of mechanical parts is decreased. Therefore, as a general statement, the ease of operation and the reliability of the instrument is improved. The operation and reliability of an instrument can be critical in the surgical operating area where even seconds may determine if a surgical operation or procedure is a success. Another advantage is the orientation of the flange on the anvil surface. The flange orientation is opposite to the direction of stapling. For most surgeons, the natural direction of stapling is always away from their body. The orientation of the flange allows the surgeon to advance the instrument and remove the formed staple in a direction away from the body. This has still another advantage in that while stapling the surgeon cannot accidentally brush against the open wound site.
Still another advantage of this instrument is the stapling indicator which is on top of the handle. The instrument thus does not have to be turned over to determine the number of staples remaining in the instrument. Still further, another advantage is the location of the trigger means which are internal to the handle. This seems to provide a more sterile environment and to prevent or decrease the liklihood of pinching a finger or fingers during use. Yet another advantage is the configuration of the instrument. In many surgical procedures, the instrument configuration may give a better field of vision of the wound site to the surgeon.
The surgical stapling control means also has advantages over the prior art references. The control means prevents the trigger from returning to its initial position if the compression is interrupted. Thus has the advantage of preventing a second staple from being formed on the anvil flange before a first staple is separated from the instrument. Another advantage of the control means is interrupted stapling. The surgeon can now stop the compression of the trigger into the handle to realign the instrument over the wound site. Thus the possibility of a perfect stapling procedure is greatly enhanced.